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52-456: The Aston Lower Grounds was a pleasure ground area in Aston , (since 1911, part of Birmingham ), Warwickshire, England. It was open to the public in the late Victorian era. The facility included a lake, which lay across the boundary of the adjacent county, Staffordshire . The Lower Grounds were originally the kitchen, private gardens, and fish-ponds belonging to Aston Hall . The Grounds, under

104-606: A circuit race at Brooklands near Weybridge in Surrey . This and Donington Park in the north Midlands remained the sole venues for massed start racing on mainland Britain until 1942, along with the Snaefell Mountain Course on the neighbouring Isle of Man . The trial led to a series of races at Brooklands, organised by the Charlotteville cycling club under Bill Mills, a professional rider who founded

156-611: A distribution warehouse for East End Foods. Aston Manor Brewery (Now Aston Manor Cider ) was started in Thimble Mill Lane in 1982 by former employees of Ansell's after Ansells' Aston Brewery closed. From 1956 to 1969, Aston Cross was the Midlands base of Associated Television (ATV) which had its Alpha Studios on Aston Road North. The ATV office building later became the studios of radio stations BRMB and Xtra-AM . Although both stations moved to Birmingham's Broad Street in

208-638: A full cricket field. The football ground – on the cricket pitch – was considered the most prestigious in the Midlands, hosting the Birmingham Senior Cup finals until 1895, and representative matches involving the Birmingham Football Association . It even hosted a floodlit match between Quilter's Birmingham club and Nottingham Forest in 1878. Cycling events had been held in the Upper Park in 1870, and by 1875

260-439: A mill, a priest and therefore probably a church, woodland and ploughland. The Church of Saints Peter and Paul was built in medieval times to replace an earlier church. The body of the church was rebuilt by J. A. Chatwin during the period 1879 to 1890; the 15th century tower and spire, which was partly rebuilt in 1776, being the only survivors of the medieval building. The ancient parish of Aston (known as Aston juxta Birmingham)

312-538: A recommended minimum of 27 years for the same crimes. A fifth defendant, Jermaine Carty, had walked free from court after being cleared of possessing a firearm. The four men convicted were members of a notorious local gang known as the Burger Bar Boys, who had been trying to exact revenge on members of their rival gang the Johnson Crew: a notorious local gang originating in the mid-1980s. The Aston ward

364-648: A strict definition of an amateur , proposed to create an International Cycling Association , open to national organisations whose views of amateurism were similar to its own, and to organise world championships. The International Cycling Union was the forerunner of the Union Cycliste Internationale . The NCU defined amateurism in English races and banned the American sprinter, Arthur Augustus Zimmerman when he appeared to be sponsored by

416-604: A tightrope walker who performed under the name of "Madame Geneive, the Female Blondin", fell to her death. The company was duly liquidated in 1864. The clerk of works, Henry Quilter, had already arranged to take over 31 acres of the park area, in the Lower Grounds directly to the north of Aston Park, which soon became the name by which the area was known; the first season tickets for entry to all facilities (including boating and quoit clubs) were 10/6, and 5/- for

468-547: A £54 million Birmingham regeneration project named "Aston Pride", as part of the New Deal for Communities scheme in 2001. Many improvements were made, including reducing burglary, robbery and vehicle crime; spending £4 million on a health centre; and helping more than 1300 people find work (more than the target of 400). Crime levels in Aston have remained stagnant in recent years. In December 2010, there were 369 reported crimes,

520-779: Is 35% less than the average income (£18,788) in England as a whole. There are three secondary schools in Aston: Broadway Academy , refurbished and opened by the Duke of Kent in 2011, King Edward VI Aston , the only grammar school in the constituency, and Aston Manor School . There are seven primary schools: Aston Tower Community Primary School, Birchfield Community School, Manor Park Primary Academy, Mansfield Green E-ACT Academy, Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Prince Albert Primary School, and Yew Tree Community School. Aston Library and Birchfield Library are within

572-512: Is not in Aston but about 1.3 miles to the south in Birmingham city centre). Aston University is one of four universities in Birmingham. Aston Villa have played at Villa Park since 1897, and it has traditionally been one of the largest football grounds in England that has staged many notable matches at club and international level. The park has also hosted other sports and events including international level rugby league and rugby union . This

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624-563: Is one of the main attractions in this town. Much of Aston consists of terraced houses that were built around the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Some of these houses were demolished in the late 1960s to make way for the Aston Expressway , which links Birmingham city centre to the M6 motorway . In the late 1950s, Aston was the location of the famous 'Venus Baby' case of Cynthia Appleton (87 Fentham Road). By

676-506: Is represented by two Liberal Democrat councillors: Mumtaz Hussain and Ayoub Khan. In 2004, the ward saw a voter fraud scandal in which Labour councillors were accused of a systematic attempt to rig elections. They had set up a "vote-rigging factory" in a disused warehouse, stealing and intercepting hundreds and possibly thousands of ballot papers to achieve this. Three councillors, Mohammed Islam, Muhammad Afzal (later cleared of wrongdoing) and Mohammed Kazi were accused of voter fraud, with

728-650: The British League of Racing Cyclists as a rival. The NCU and the BLRC ( British League of Racing Cyclists ) remained rivals for 17 years, a position which split British cycling. The BLRC's position was that racing on the road was not illegal, that it did not obstruct other travellers, and that it gave riders from England and Wales the experience to compete internationally. The NCU had entrusted its wartime administration to an emergency committee which did not have power to change major rules. The journalist John Dennis said

780-609: The International Cycling Association , forerunner of the Union Cycliste Internationale , the world governing body. During and after the Second World War, the NCU became involved in a dispute with a rival body, the British League of Racing Cyclists , which defied the NCU's rules that massed-start races should be held on public roads only when they were closed to other traffic. The struggle between

832-776: The National Cyclists' Union in 1883. It continued to campaign for highway improvements, successfully pursuing an 1885 legal action, with support from highway engineer Thomas Codrington , regarding the road between Birmingham and Halesowen . In October 1886, the CTC and NCU pooled resources and formed the Roads Improvement Association . This did not present itself as a cycling organisation, instead initially focusing on production of technical literature distributed to highways boards and surveyors to promote improved construction and maintenance methods. In

884-488: The Raleigh Bicycle Company . It insisted the organisers of the first Bordeaux-Paris met its own ideals before allowing British riders to take part. When George Pilkington Mills won, the NCU would not recognise the victory, or consider Mills still an amateur, until he proved he had no help from the cycle factory for which he worked. The NCU was a founder member of the world's first cycling authority,

936-577: The Second World War . South Aston was designated a renewal area involving comprehensive redevelopment of the traditional area known as "Aston New Town". The area, was more commonly called simply " Newtown " and is a large estate consisting of sixteen tower blocks, five of which have since been demolished. The project was approved in 1968. Three 20-storey tower blocks on the complex contained 354 flats alone. Today, Aston gives its name to Aston Villa F.C. and Aston University (the campus of which

988-552: The civil parish had a population of 219,082. On 1 April 1912 the parish was abolished and merged with Birmingham. Old buildings which became popular within Aston included the Aston Hippodrome and the Bartons Arms public house . Gospel Hall on Park Lane was opened in 1892 and demolished in the 1970s to be rebuilt at the top of Park Lane in 1979. The original hall had a seating capacity of 73. Another meeting place

1040-652: The British because the few international events to which they sent riders, notably the Olympic and world championship road races, had been run as individual time trials . It was as a 100-mile [162 km] time-trial, in Shropshire , that Britain organised the world championship road race in 1922. Then in 1933 the UCI decided that championships would be massed-start events. The NCU organised its 1933 world championship trial as

1092-637: The International Cyclists Association. NCU championships, until 1937 open to riders from any country, had been considered the unofficial championships of the world. It was because the sport needed world championships independent of any national body that Henry Sturmey of the magazine The Cyclist and later founder of the Sturmey-Archer gear company proposed an International Cyclists Association in 1892. He approached other countries' cycling national associations through

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1144-568: The Lower Grounds in September 1891. In October 1895, Aston Villa F.C. decided to sell its Wellington Road ground and move to the Lower Grounds; the club resolved to spend £14,000 on upgrading the facilities for football, including replacing the cinder cycling track with a concrete one. Some of the Pleasure Grounds buildings remained, but most of the facilities were subsumed into the building of Villa Park , and in 1911 Villa bought

1196-478: The Lower Grounds was hosting such events; A 501 yard cinder cycling track was also installed in 1879, around the cricket pitch. The track held the National Cycling Union championships between 1882 and 1887. The sale of the cricket ground required a new track - a quarter of a mile around, with banked corners - to be set up in 1889, on the site of the ornamental lake. A new concrete banked track

1248-503: The NCU still believed that racing on the road threatened all cycling and did not want to make any change while so many members were out of the country, fighting in the war. The two sides maintained their positions when peace came in 1945 and for many years each banned the members of the other. The rivalry ended in 1959 when the two merged to form the British Cycling Federation . The National Cyclists' Union leased

1300-494: The NCU. The NCU shared signposting with the Cyclists Touring Club but after 10 years could no longer afford it and the CTC took on the whole job. The NCU also produced publications to help cyclists tour Britain. The NCU also ran racing championships, at first open to anyone in the world. Its championships were the world's most prestigious and considered unofficial championships of the world. The NCU, which had

1352-783: The NCU. The founding meeting was in London in November 1892, with representatives of the NCU and organisations in France, Germany, Holland, Italy and Canada. Not all were the main bodies in their home country. The largest French organisation, the Union Vélocipèdique Française, sent observers but was not allowed to take part because the NCU had broken off relationships with it over the question of amateurism. Countries objected to having one vote when Britain, with England, Scotland and Ireland each voting, had three. France

1404-688: The New Year in the Birchfield area near Aston. Two of the girls were killed and another was seriously injured. More than 18 bullets were fired from at least two weapons. Four men were later tried and found guilty of murder in March 2005. Marcus Ellis (the half-brother of one of the two dead girls), Nathan Martin and Michael Gregory were sentenced to life imprisonment with recommended minimum terms of 35 years on two charges of murder and three of attempted murder. A fourth man, Rodrigo Simms, received life with

1456-556: The course is closed under statute by the competent authority, to other vehicular traffic." Nine years later, in October 1942 and after the BLRC had broken away from the NCU because of that insistence on closed roads, Mills regretted what he had done: "In 1933 it was impossible to foresee the future... the war, the changing conditions on the road, the decline of track sport, the growing demand for massed start under real road conditions. My notes covered conditions as they existed in 1933." At

1508-490: The early 1980s, Aston was suffering from severe deprivation with many of the terraced houses being outdated for the requirements of the time. Many of them lacked bathrooms and indoor toilets, whilst the vast majority were suffering from decay as a result of a lack of maintenance. There was speculation that the homes would be demolished, but Birmingham City Council made money available to the homeowners for them to be brought up to modern standards. From 2001 to 2011, Aston underwent

1560-585: The early 1990s, the building is still called Radio House. Launching in February 1974, BRMB was the UK's fourth Independent Local Radio station and, while in Aston, was the most listened to radio station in the West Midlands. National Cycling Union The National Cyclists' Union selected teams for world championships and regulated circuit and track racing in England and Wales. It was a founder member of

1612-573: The early 20th century. The works were situated at the junction of Aston Road and Dartmouth Street. On Miller Street was a tramcar depot which had a storage capacity of 104 tramcars. It opened in 1904 latterly being operated by the City of Birmingham Tramways Company Ltd on behalf of the Urban District Council before formally passing to Birmingham Corporation Tramways on 1 January 1912. Aston underwent large scale redevelopment following

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1664-532: The early years of the 20th century, however, the RIA gradually became primarily a motoring lobby organisation, under honorary secretary William Rees Jeffreys . The British weekly, The Bicycle , said: The NCU erected road signs warning cyclists of steep descents and other hazards. It was prompted by a member, J. George Jnr, who suggested them in 1878. The idea was taken up by the Earl of Albemarle, who became president of

1716-485: The elections having to be rerun. All three were barred from standing in the following election. Aston is part of the Birmingham Ladywood constituency, held by Labour since 1940 and represented by Labour MP Shabana Mahmood since 2010. The 2011 census found that 22,636 people were living in Aston. It is the sixth most populous ward in the city. It is a very ethnically diverse community, with 44% of

1768-581: The entire site, closing it off to the general public. The club demolished the buildings in 1912. The Park held cricket matches from at least 1861, when the North met the South on what was called the "New Ground". The most prestigious cricket match the ground held was between the Australians and an England XI, featuring five Lancashire professionals, on 26 May 1884; the match was scheduled for 3 days, but

1820-625: The grounds only. Quilter improved the Grounds by preparing 2 lakes for boating, and adding a roller-skating rink in 1875; he also adapted the cricket pitch for football over the winter from 1874, with a football club made up of the workers on the grounds, Birmingham F.C. , being set up. However, Quilter too ran out of money, and in 1878 he sold his interest to the Aston Lower Grounds Company, which made Quilter managing director, for £45,000 in cash and shares, although £35,000

1872-556: The immigrants were from the Indian subcontinent most notably from Pakistan , though a significant number were also from the Caribbean . Aston is a young ward, with 33.5% of the population under 18, compared to the Birmingham average of 25.5%. 31.7% of residents in Aston have no qualifications, higher than the Birmingham average of 20.8%. Moreover, 15.6% do not speak English as their main language and cannot speak it well, well above

1924-504: The majority being for antisocial behaviour , while in December 2019, there were 328, mostly for violent offences. The crime rate in the ward is 10.35, which is higher than in other areas like Handsworth Wood (6.59) but lower than Nechells (16.6). The majority of the crime is of the nature of violence, antisocial behaviour, vehicle crime, and robbery. On 2 January 2003, gunmen shot at three innocent teenage girls who were celebrating

1976-576: The name of Aston Park , were opened to the public by Queen Victoria on 16 June 1858, marking her first visit to Birmingham. J. A. Langford was put in charge of the Aston Hall and Park Company, but the Park suffered from a number of disasters. In 1861, a group of "roughs" rioted when refused admission to a performance by Charles Blondin , and in July 1863, during a charity fête in the Park, Selina Powell,

2028-419: The national average of 1.9%. Aston has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the city, with 57.8% of residents classed as economically active compared to the city average of 69.3% and national average of 77%. It is the 11th most deprived ward in the city. The majority of employed residents (56%) work in lower skilled occupations, such as caring, leisure and sales. The average income in Aston (£12,033)

2080-603: The population born outside the United Kingdom. The largest ethnic group was Asian at 69.1%. More specifically, the Pakistani ethnic group was the largest at 30.9% of all Asians. Black British was the second largest ethnic group at 16.4%. White British was the third largest ethnic group at 7.8%. The ethnic makeup of the area drastically changed in the 1950s and 1960s with immigration from the Commonwealth . Most of

2132-465: The position of other cyclists. It compelled members to hold their races on velodromes , although the word was not known then, or on closed roads such as in parks and airfields. The only races allowed on public roads were time-trials, in which riders competed against the clock at intervals, and distance and place-to-place record attempts. Such a ban did not operate in other countries and massed road racing continued as before. That made little difference to

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2184-486: The time, said the writer and team manager Chas Messenger , "there were thousands riding in time trials and, apart from a once-in-a-while article in the cycling press, they knew little or nothing about road racing." The Brooklands races inspired some riders and one, Percy Stallard , took advantage of low wartime traffic in 1942 to organise a race on the open road from Llangollen to Wolverhampton . The NCU banned him sine die - until further notice - and he and others formed

2236-630: The two lasted for a decade, after which they merged to become the British Cycling Federation . The Bicycle Union was formally established at a meeting in the Guildhall Tavern, London, on 16 February 1878, instigated by Gerard Francis Cobb (a Cambridge University music tutor, president of the Cambridge University Cycling Club, and also a member of the Cyclists' Touring Club 's national council). Its purpose

2288-441: The ward. Birmingham City Council planned to permanently close Aston Library in 2017 to save money; however, the decision was reversed after public consultation, and it is now run by community organisations. Aston Cross was once the home of Ansells Brewery and HP Sauce . The six-acre Aston site was purchased by developer Chancerygate in 2007 at £800,000 per acre, but they subsequently sold it for half that price and it now houses

2340-442: The weekly magazine, The Bicycle . Mills was one of few authorities to whom the NCU could turn for advice on road racing and it was he who wrote the NCU's rules, at the request of the secretary, H. N. Crowe. The wording that Mills chose in 1933 led to the NCU's long civil war with a later rival body, the British League of Racing Cyclists . Mills wrote: "No massed start race shall be permitted, other than on an enclosed circuit, unless

2392-563: Was built when Aston Villa bought the Lower Grounds. Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham , in the county of the West Midlands , England. Located immediately to the north-west of Central Birmingham , Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from Birmingham City Centre . Aston was first mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 as "Estone", having

2444-664: Was due to promote the world championships in Paris in 1900. It refused to accept the NCU's position and, after failing to have the issue discussed at an ICA meeting, convened a meeting in Paris to form the Union Cycliste Internationale . Not only would it permit just one team from the United Kingdom but the NCU and Britain's other governing bodies were excluded because they had not been at the founding meeting. It took until 1903 for Britain to be admitted. The NCU banned all cycle racing on public roads in 1890, fearing it would again jeopardise

2496-530: Was large. It was separated from the parish of Birmingham by AB Row, which currently exists in the Eastside of the city at just 50 yards in length. Aston, as Aston Manor , was governed by a Local Board from 1869 and was created as an Urban District Council in 1903 before being absorbed in the expansion of the County Borough of Birmingham in 1911, and a further part, Saltley was added in 1911. In 1911

2548-399: Was over in 1, the swift conclusion being blamed on a grassless and muddy pitch. Australia won by 4 wickets, with 217 runs being scored in the entire match. By 1889 however the ground had been sold for housing, with Jardine Road, Endicott Road, and Nelson Road being built over the pitch, and sporting events moved to the drained fish-pond/ornamental lake area, which did not have enough room for

2600-471: Was owed on a mortgage to the previous freehold owner. Witton station opened adjacent to the grounds, on the London and North Western 's Grand Junction Railway line, in 1876. In 1879, an aquarium was set up, in a 312' long building. The aquarium was not a success, and a menagerie replaced it in 1886, which included an aviary, a monkey house, tigers, lions, a leopard, Russian bears, elephants, and kangaroos. The Buffalo Bill Wild West show also played at

2652-710: Was the Ellen Knox Memorial Hall which was next door to the Midland Vinegar Brewery. The brewery was owned by the Midland Brewery Company was built around 1877. It was located on Upper Thomas Street. The brewery was a three-storey brick building with rounded corners, semi-circular windows and a slated roof. Other industry that was located in Aston include the Premier Motor Works which produced cars during

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2704-731: Was to defend cyclists and to organise and regulate bicycle racing in Great Britain . In July 1878, Cobb, as its first president, led the Bicycle Union's lobbying of the Local Government Board , one of the official bodies managing British highways, and also actively campaigned for highway improvements in Cambridge. The Bicycle Union merged with the Tricycle Association in 1882 and was renamed

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